Former Champion (Vanderbrook Champions Book 5)

by Edmund Hughes

  “I’ve been keeping in touch with a few traders who regularly travel through Vanderbrook and other nearby towns,” she said. “One of them told me that they’ve made several deliveries to a hospital in Halter City.”

  Malcolm frowned and shook his head.

  “Halter City is Multi’s territory,” said Malcolm. “Though what use he’d have for a hospital is an open question.”

  “That’s not all,” said Tapestry. “The guy told me about the hospital also said that on one of his trips inside, he had what he thought at the time was a hallucination. A vision of a strange, green portal in one of the rooms he was walking by.”

  Malcolm blinked.

  “Jade Portal?” he said, putting the pieces together. “She’s still alive. Rain Dancer didn’t kill her after all, and… Multi took her in?”

  “Apparently,” said Tapestry. “Though she must be badly injured. Maybe paralyzed. Hence the hospital, and her not immediately taking off. Not exactly the easiest spryte to hold hostage.”

  “Definitely not,” said Malcolm. “But I don’t understand. Why does this matter to us?”

  Tapestry sighed.

  “I keep forgetting how hard it is for young people to see the big picture,” she said.

  “You are a young person. At least in body if not in mind. Now make with the explanation.”

  Tapestry smiled again, though she caught herself more quickly this time.

  “Jade Portal was the one who trapped Savior on Europa,” said Tapestry. “With her power, we can bring him back, if he’s still alive.”

  Malcolm sat up a little straighter, running the idea over in his head. It could work.

  “Of course,” he said. “She can make a portal to bring us onto the spaceship on the way to save him.”

  “Exactly,” said Tapestry. “We find where the spacesuits are kept onboard, grab them, come back to Earth through the portal, and then have her transport us straight to Europa so we can bring Savior back immediately.”

  She’s thought this through. This is a good plan.

  “Alright,” said Malcolm. “I’m onboard. But we still have to find a way to Jade Portal. If she’s in a hospital that Multi is in control of, it’s not going to be easy for us to get in.”

  “I never said it was going to be easy,” said Tapestry. “But I doubt Multi will be expecting us. It’s been months since he’s had a serious confrontation with any champion. We might be able to catch him off guard.”

  “This is Multi we’re talking about,” said Malcolm. “When has he ever not planned for a contingency?”

  “People change,” said Tapestry. “Especially demons. I think he’s more arrogant now, than ever. And his main concern is… well, it’s not you or me.”

  Malcolm went silent, sensing from the tone of Tapestry’s voice that she didn’t want to have that conversation now. Bringing up Second Wind would be tearing open old wounds for them both. How must it have felt for her to discover that the man she fell in love with was not only a copy of the original, but had also become a demon and decided to betray her?

  “I’m going to park on the edge of Halter City,” she said, breaking the silence. “We’ll have to be on guard until we get to the hospital. If anyone sees us, our plan falls apart.”

  “Got it,” said Malcolm. “Let’s do this.”

  CHAPTER 14

  They waited in an alleyway until nightfall, crouched in the shadows. Halter City was patrolled by Multis and the only way they would remain undetected was by moving under the cover of darkness. They settled in behind a dumpster, ignoring the smell as best they could.

  In many ways, Halter City had faired the chaos of the collapse better than Vanderbrook. The destruction overall was considerably less and more concentrated. A couple of blocks still had electricity, though the only people who lived in the apartments there were those who had somehow earned Multi’s favor.

  There was even a modern, mostly functional economy in this section of town. Malcolm noticed a well-stocked bodega across the street from the alley and grasped at his growling stomach, afraid it would give their position away.

  When dusk settled, they moved. It was easy to spot their enemy. Each Multi shared identical physical characteristics, and most of them carried rifles, or pistols. Malcolm and Tapestry would wait at the edge of one alleyway, watching until a Multi turned around a corner, and then they’d sprint across the street to their next hiding spot.

  They waited behind an abandoned car across the street from the hospital, scoping the place out. If Tapestry hadn’t pointed it out to Malcolm as their destination, he wouldn’t have given it a second glance. The building looked unassuming, and perhaps that was a testament to how little thought Multi gave it in his grand scheme.

  “So… what now?” asked Malcolm.

  Tapestry shrugged. “Why are you asking me?”

  “You’re the one with the plan,” he said.

  “Alright,” said Tapestry. “Is there a way we can get in that’s not the front entrance?”

  He frowned slightly.

  “The roof seems like… an option,” said Malcolm.

  Malcolm felt a flash of annoyance at the fact that he no longer had his wind manipulation, but there was another building close by. They’d have to jump between the two of them, but it just might work.

  But assuming we can get in, we still have to find Jade Portal. And then…

  The thought led him to another issue that he hadn’t considered, and wasn’t sure if Tapestry had, either.

  “How do we get Jade Portal to work with us, anyway?” he asked.

  “We remind her who killed Golden Joab,” said Tapestry. “I doubt she’s here by choice. And if that’s the case, I’m sure she’ll be willing to cooperate.”

  “That’s a pretty big assumption to hinge your plan on,” said Malcolm.

  Tapestry set her hands on her hips and glared at him.

  “It’s my plan,” she said. “Either help me or don’t.”

  “Fine,” said Malcolm. “I forgot how bossy you can be sometimes.”

  Tapestry glowered at him.

  The two of them waited for a few more minutes, confirming that there were no Multis waiting to pounce on them. Then, they headed for the adjacent building nearest to the hospital. It was an old parking garage, with a number of abandoned cars scattered haphazardly inside.

  They moved swiftly, jogging up the sloping cement ramps until they’d reached the top. The jump between buildings that Malcolm had theorized looked a hell of a lot further than it had from the ground. The wind pushed at Malcolm’s back as he stood on top of the parking garage’s safety railing, staring across a rather intimidating gap.

  “Are you… sure about this?” asked Tapestry.

  Malcolm frowned. He glanced down at the five-story drop. Tapestry would have to make the jump, too, but if he went first, he could be there to grab her if she came up a few inches short.

  “It’s the only way,” said Malcolm. He took a deep breath. It was a windy night, and he couldn’t stop himself from smiling at the feel of the rushing air on his face, as though an old friend had just called him up for an adventure.

  Malcolm leaned back on his heels, spotted the area on the hospital’s roof where he needed to land, and jumped. The wind batted at his clothing, and he felt it pushing at his back. Not because of anything he’d done, just of its own volition.

  It was equal parts nostalgic and heart breaking. The moment seemed to stretch out for an eternity as he hung in the space between buildings. It was as close to flying as he would ever again approach.

  He cleared the gap with inches to spare, only barely stumbling in the follow up steps. His heart was pounding in his chest, and a strange laugh escaped his throat. Malcolm turned to look back at Tapestry with a silly grin on his face.

  “Wow,” he said. “Alright. Your turn.”

  Tapestry nodded slowly, and pulled herself up onto the concrete safety partition like a condemned criminal approaching the gallows.
She brushed a few strands of blonde hair out of her face, or at least tried to, as the wind seemed intent on pushing them back.

  “Is there… anything I should know?” she asked, nervously. “Any tips on how to jump better?”

  “You’ll be okay,” said Malcolm.

  I hope…

  He was beginning to question the sense in having Tapestry sneak in alongside him when she threw herself forward into a sudden, jerky leap. From the moment her body moved out into open air, Malcolm could tell that she was going to come up short.

  There was a split second delay to his reaction, and he owed it to his subconscious mind’s assumption that of course, Tapestry would be okay. He was so used to seeing her recover from any wound, her body withstanding fire, bullets, and electricity, that her dying from a fall didn’t mesh with his concept of who she was.

  But Tapestry was just like him. She had lost her powers. She was now a normal human, with a normal breaking point. And with wide eyes and flailing arms, she’d thrown herself into a jump that her legs weren’t strong enough to make.

  Malcolm surged forward, leaning dangerously far out over a short concrete lip running around the edge of the hospital’s roof. Tapestry’s feet missed, but her upper body hit the concrete, and she managed to get an arm over, her nails digging for purchase on whatever they could find.

  Which was Malcolm’s shoulder, protected only by the thin fabric of his clothing. He gritted his teeth, reaching his other hand around to her abdomen and pulling her up with all the strength he could summon. He fell backward onto the hospital’s roof, Tapestry crumpled atop him.

  “…Oh my god,” she whispered. “When did… stuff like that… get so scary?”

  “It’s always been scary,” said Malcolm. “We just had a higher tolerance for taking risks.”

  She was straddling him, and turned her face so her eyes met his. Malcolm felt a surge of emotion as he felt her soft butt on his crotch. His heart was still pounding, and he wanted nothing more than to flip Tapestry underneath him, kiss her passionately, and–

  “We’re wasting time,” said Tapestry, climbing to her feet. “Come on.”

  CHAPTER 15

  The door leading down to the next floor from the roof had been locked, but it was a simple mechanism. Malcolm was able to force it open by leaning his weight onto it and sneaking one of Tapestry’s old credit cards into the gap. They headed down a flight of stairs and into a building that seemed half abandoned.

  There was only one nurse on the top floor, and she was asleep at her post. Most of the rooms Malcolm passed were empty, and the few patients he did see were either sleeping, comatose, or paralyzed.

  At least I hope it’s one of those three…

  It became clear that the hospital was either understaffed or running on a very thin margin. They passed by each room in sneaky silence, only glancing in for long enough to see if the patient inside was Jade Portal.

  They found her on the third floor they checked. There was a nurse on that floor, and she was essentially doing her job, patrolling up and down the hallway. Malcolm and Tapestry waited in the stairway until she took a bathroom break, and then quickly hurried down the hall, checking room after room.

  “Here!” hissed Tapestry, from outside a room with a closed door. “It’s her! She’s sleeping!”

  Malcolm nodded and hurried over. They slipped through the door, closing it tightly behind them, and approached Jade’s bedside.

  She looked frail, and it was clear from the machines around her that she was like many of the other patients they’d seen, paralyzed or in a coma. There was a pale green tinge to her skin, the telltale sign of a spryte. Malcolm was a little concerned that she didn’t react to their presence.

  “Alright…” he said, glancing at Tapestry. “Now what do we do?”

  Jade opened her eyes. She blinked a couple of times, focusing them, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise. The rest of her body remained unmoving, frozen in place. Malcolm wondered if that was the result of the injuries Rain Dancer had dealt her, or perhaps a chemical cocktail Multi was forcing on her to keep her from escaping.

  “Jade,” said Tapestry. “Do you remember us at all? We were the two champions who you encountered at the Hawktail Casino?”

  She couldn’t answer them with words, but Malcolm thought he saw a gleam of recognition in her eyes. Tapestry nodded to Malcolm, giving him an expectant look. He gave a shrug and stepped forward.

  “So, uh, I know we were never the best of friends, or anything,” said Malcolm. “But for the record, I’m the one who killed Rain Dancer. He was our common enemy.”

  “We don’t have all night, Malcolm,” said Tapestry. “Just get to the point.”

  Malcolm bit back a frustrated remark and continued.

  “Look, we’re trying to rescue the champion that Rain Dancer forced you to imprison,” said Malcolm. “I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention to what’s been going on in the world, but things have fallen off the deep end, and we need his help to fix things. And for that, we need your help.”

  Jade Portal blinked. Whether it was a yes or a no, Malcolm had no idea.

  “So… We need you to open a portal from here onto the spaceship, Jupiter III.” He frowned. “Uh… It’s somewhere in space?” He glanced over at Tapestry, suddenly realizing a massive flaw in their plan. “Tapestry, how is she going to know where exactly to make the portal lead to?”

  “I have that covered,” said Tapestry.

  She reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, unfolding it and smoothing out the creases. Malcolm realized that it was a news article about the ship, with photos of both its exterior and interior.

  “That’s not going to tell her where it is right now, though,” he said.

  “That’s not how her portals work,” said Tapestry. “Think about it. If that were the case, she’d have to account for both the Earth’s rotation and orbit every time she used her power, which I don’t think she’s doing.”

  Malcolm shrugged.

  “It seems like a big bet to make, given that she can’t speak to confirm it for us.”

  Jade Portal blinked several times in quick succession.

  That’s either a definite yes… or a definite no.

  “That’s it, though, isn’t it?” asked Tapestry. “You use the concept of a place, rather than its absolute positioning? Blink once for yes.”

  Jade hesitated, and then blinked once. Tapestry breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Okay,” she said. “Perfect. Jade, here is our plan. We need to get onto the ship, but just for a few minutes, so we can borrow the spacesuits. Then, we’ll come back here and–”

  Heavy footsteps sounded from down the hall, along with shouting. Malcolm looked at the door, searching for a way to lock or bar it and finding nothing.

  “We don’t have time,” he said. “We have to do this. Now.”

  Jade needed no further encouragement. She stared at the article Tapestry had in her hand, and closed her eyes. A luminescent green portal burst into existence against the room’s wall, almost like someone had turned on a broken projector in a dark room, bright and psychedelic.

  “If she’s off by even a hundred feet, we’ll be stepping through this portal to our deaths,” said Malcolm.

  Tapestry smiled at him.

  “I’ll go first, if you’re scared,” she said.

  The footsteps were almost upon them. The two of them didn’t have time to trade barbs. Malcolm walked over to Tapestry, grabbed onto her hand, just in case, and stepped through the portal.

  CHAPTER 16

  The sensation was indescribable. It didn’t feel like anything painful, but the immediate shock of transitioning from one environment into another was similar to being roughly woken up from a dream. Malcolm’s stomach turned over as he somersaulted through the air, weightless and inside a dimly lit spacecraft.

  Whoa… This is weird. And kind of spooky.

  Tapestry followed, pushing through the por
tal with more force than he had and colliding into him as she emerged onto the other side. The green portal disappeared an instant after she’d made it all the way through.

  Neither of them said anything. Malcolm supposed that Tapestry was having a similar reaction to his own, struggling with the dizzying and physically confusing sensation of weightlessness.

  They were in a small room with a single table in the center. Four open, circular hatches led to other parts of the ship, and there were handholds along each wall to make movement easier. Malcolm noticed that the four chairs around the table all had what looked like seatbelts, most likely to keep the astronauts from floating off once they’d sat down.

  “Tapestry…” Malcolm said, realizing it had been almost a minute since either of them had spoken. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m… alive,” she said.

  Malcolm tapped off the wall, turning himself to face the direction he’d last seen her in. Tapestry was floating upside down, in relation to him. Making eye contact with her made his head hurt, as though some part of his brain was trying to work facial recognition and failing due to their shifting relative perspectives.

  “This was part of the plan,” said Malcolm. “We did it. We’re aboard the Jupiter III.”

  “The portal closed behind us, Malcolm,” said Tapestry.

  “Jade will open it again,” he replied, sounding surer than he felt. “In the meantime, we need to find those spacesuits.”

  Anchoring himself against the wall with one hand, Malcolm took a slow survey of his immediate surroundings. The room they were in looked like it was designed as a general meeting space, which made sense. A single LED light was active overheard, though there were at least a half dozen that he could see that were either turned off or nonfunctional.

  Tapestry looked worried, and also like she was about to throw up. Malcolm gently pushed himself off the wall and over to her, moving much faster than he’d anticipated. He caught another handhold next to her to steady himself, and then set a hand on her shoulder.

  “Are you okay?” he asked. “This is all part of the plan, remember?”